Art Bytes's Digital Art Exhibition

Art Bytes & The Arts Society Wessex: Chippenham Celebration and Exhibition Event

A collaborative digital exhibition project between Art Bytes and The Arts Society Wessex Area, this Celebration Event was unique as it went above and beyond the Art Bytes Regional Celebration Events with a physical exhibition of all artworks entered into Art Bytes, art activities and participation certificates presented.

The lead up to this celebration involved the schools entering 30 pieces of year 5 or year 9 artwork into their digital gallery. There was a selection of the best three pieces from each school made by a professional panel of artists. Once this selection was made families, friends, teachers etc. could then vote for their favourite piece.

Regional and national winners were then selected and announced at regional events. The experience of seeing their work online with all the other schools was an encouraging and uplifting experience for the students, knowing that their work was valued by others in a national format.

Art Bytes and TAS Wessex Area wanted to encourage all the students from the Wessex Area to see their work in a physical exhibition as well as digitally so worked with the Neeld Hall to create a pop-up exhibition.  All the pieces entered from the Wessex Area were sent in, mounted, labelled and displayed as a school. The opportunity to have workshops increased the value of the day as the students and their families were able to work with Rae Melody in a variety of art activities. 

We have been very fortunate to have co- sponsors this year. Wiltshire Council provided funding for registration fees and Chippenham Borough Lands Charity paid for the venue. Dryad Education provided art packs for each participating school.

With over 120 people in attendance at the event, overwhelming positive feedback has been received from families, pupils and teachers, with thanks for celebrating student’s art work in such a public way. All enjoyed seeing their child’s artwork exhibited as well as viewing and discussing other pupils' work on display. Refreshments and lots of cakes encouraged everyone to take their time viewing the exhibition.

The Neeld Hall was a wonderful space for the event, giving a professional feeling to the whole exhibition and presentations. As indicated above this venue would not have been possible without the support from Chippenham Borough Lands Charity with a financial grant. The Neeld Hall staff gave us valuable IT support, arranged the venue for us and even more wonderful cleared everything away afterward!

Chippenham Mayor, Declan ​Beasley’s presentation of certificates, added a great sense of importance to the event; he truly values the importance that creativity plays in young person's development. Ross Henning's vision to make Chippenham a creativity hub and showcase the creativity of young people was the spark that ignited this event.

As we all are aware, the arts in education have been sorely hit, with programmes and events like this, often moving down the priority list for Headteachers and art budgets having little room for new initiatives. The Arts Society (TAS) Wessex Area and TAS Kington Langley wish to do all they can to support arts education both in the classroom, through exhibitions, visits and workshops.

The wonderful art activities on offer by Rae Melody Art, supported by TAS Wessex, was organised in reaction to the feedback received from last year's Celebration Event. The activities were inspiring and left a smile of every young person and their families!

This was a joyful celebration of the power of art to encourage, explore and build confidence through creativity and all of the students were thrilled to see the outcome of their efforts being celebrated.